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By
BV Swagath
 Rawalpindi,
venue for the third and deciding test of the historic series,
an opportunity for India to win a series abroad after a long
gap; can the Indian team hold on to their nerves to win this
deciding test? We have seen this team not winning a test
series abroad even after showing early promise in the tours of
Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies, England and recently
Australia. But after winning the toss and putting the
inexperienced Pakistan batting line up on a green top - it was
the ideal start to their tryst towards a test and a series
victory.
Pakistan batsmen failed to deliver the goods and fell cheaply
to the young Indian brigade of Balaji, Pathan and Nehra. The
home side may have been bowled out for a modest 224, but the
Indian batsmen had to shield from any complacency and bat
Pakistan out of the match. Shoaib Akthar and his team mates
may have thought that they
had created shivers in the Indian dressing room
by sending the dangerous Sehwag back with the first ball. But
with a determined Rahul Dravid, who was focused enough to bat
long enough to secure the match for India, Pakistan were
always in a strife. Ball after ball, Dravid was closing his
eyes for a second and was focusing and refocusing on his
mission. With a solid and technically sound batsman in Rahul
Dravid at the crease, millions of Indians would have relaxed
with great comfort. And little Parthiv Patel, learning from
his senior partner, played according to the merit of the ball
and ensured that India saw the new ball terror without any
hurdles.
Patience is bitter...but the fruits it bears are sweet. Rahul
Dravid, a batsman who knows when to defend the good balls,
when to play his shots, but most importantly "leave the balls
which he didn't have to play at". He is always a batsman who
could be watched from close angles, whether you are an
aspiring cricketer or for that matter an established cricketer
at the highest level. Even the best batsman in the World,
Sachin Tendulkar failed to deliver in the crunch situation,
but Dravid battled out the fiery spells from the Pakistani
attack and take India into a commanding position. Every long
innings has a lucky break or two, so was with Dravid's. An
uppish cut shot, one of the very few blemishes from Dravid and
Yasir Hameed at point made a complete mess of an easy chance.
That was heartbreaking for all the Pakistanis as everyone
knows that Dravid would pay them badly with a big score.
A century is a milestone for young and
inexperienced batsmen around the world to be satisfied, but
not for Dravid who has a big appetite for runs. No flashes no
swishes outside the off-stump even when he's batting on 100 or
150 or 200 for that matter. Such is the discipline instilled
in this man and is therefore called THE WALL. He has the best
cover drive in the world arguably. He can pierce the narrowest
of gaps and still find the ropes with ease. All in all Dravid
can be described as a complete batsman for any situation, any
bowling attack and on any pitch.
With India in a commanding position, Dravid was required to
step the tempo up and no difficulties at all for this man in
doing so. He can battle out when the bowlers are at their
fiery best and still cash in whenever he gets a lose delivery.
He scored as many as 270 runs on what was supposed to be a
bowler friendly track. This innings ensured a historic win for
the Indian team and the whole Indian population would be
grateful for THE WALL.
What was commendable about this historic
innings by Dravid, was his fitness. Never in his entire stay
of over 12 hours did he show signs of weariness and the sheer
mental strength this man has was there for all to see.
Although he was in his mid-200s, he still pushed hard for the
singles and earnestly wanted them to be converted into twos,
which shows the commitment with which he played this innings.
This sign of a high level of mental and physical toughness can
make this Great Indian Wall a difficult one to break.
With as many as 5 double hundreds to his name, Dravid is now
one of the all time Indian greats and also an all time great
in the game's history. Whenever India is in a shaky situation,
look upon to THE WALL - Rahul Dravid to bail the team out of
trouble, and most often or not he doesn't disappoint you!
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